


wrath, nameless

by were



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Drama, Enemies to Lovers, Explicit Sexual Content, Flashbacks, M/M, Mentions of Hate Sex, Minor Violence, Porn with Feelings, Slice of Life, Soft sex, Teasing, Theo Raeken Week 2018, mentions of breath play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 08:08:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16719597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/were/pseuds/were
Summary: Liam is a branded superhero and Theo is a notorious thief. But that's not what this is about.Or, the one where they are enemies with benefits - and are about to fall in love.





	wrath, nameless

**Author's Note:**

> this is for Theo Raeken Week 2k18. see theoraekenweek @ tumblr
> 
> i want to thank Janna a million for beta-ing again, at such short notice, and with helping me figure out tags (trust me, i don't know how to tag at all, and find it downright terrifying!)

**i.**  
They almost tripped over their shoes, stumbling through the door. Liam walked Theo backwards into his flat, his nose dipped into the nook of Theo's neck, eyes closed, fingers exploring, mind lost in paradise.

"Keys. Liam— the keys," Theo murmured, a hand on Liam's back, the other reaching out behind Liam. The keys were still stuck in the keyhole, and the door wouldn't close completely. Liam barely gave them a thought. 

Instead, he bit down on Theo's skin, an inch under the jaw, licked and sucked hard, rinsed and repeated. Theo shuddered, throwing his head back, reduced to nothing but curses and broken moans. "Fuck."

" _Fuck the keys,_ " Liam said in Theo's ear, low and impatient. Perhaps more impatient than the usual. Theo shivered, let out a single huff of air, barely restrained laughter.

 

The flat decor was lacklustre, to say the least, but had its charm. Liam'd only moved in about two weeks ago and hadn't bothered unpacking. There was a mattress on the oak wood floor, quaintly dark and aged, in the centre of what should be a living room, looking out from the fifth floor, into the backside of a cityscape. There were dark buildings, warm lights in a handful of windows, old fire escapes and unused balconies, fumes and exhaust curling upwards into an almost Byzantium purple sky. 

Theo turned Liam around and pushed him onto the mattress, climbing over him, knees on either side of Liam's hips. 

They hadn't turned on the lights, but the moon was enough, caressing Liam's demigod features, outlining the curve of his lips, highlighting the intensity in his clear eyes. Theo licked his lips and then slowly sat down on Liam's crotch, taking a second before grinding against it once, hard, heavy and teasing.

Liam exhaled, breath barely under control. Theo leaned down, grabbed Liam's cheeks in his hands and kissed him, hungry for a taste of Liam. Theo's glasses (à la Clark Kent) fell slightly against the bridge of Liam's nose. Theo thought about whether he should keep them on this time, but was soon distracted. 

Liam's hand slid down Theo's abdomen before snaking behind and coming up Theo's back, groping at strong muscles. His fingers followed the dip between Theo's clothed shoulder blades until they rested comfortably at the nape. Theo smiled briefly against Liam's mouth. It tickled.

Theo pulled back an inch, licked his lips and waited. He wasn't sure what for. Liam wasn't doing anything either, just resting, like he could stay like this forever. Like he wanted them to stay like this forever.

"Something the matter?" Theo murmured, a touch too sincere than he intended. He was a little worried at their progress. Usually at this point they were already grabbing each other's dicks. 

He licked his lips, not entirely nervously, but he wasn't sure why they were pausing here. Liam only looked him in the eye for a brief moment before pressing their mouths together again with a gentleness Theo wasn't used to. He frowned in response but melted into it gradually, unsure how else he should go about this.

They weren't normally like this. Intimacy wasn't exactly something they did on a regular basis. As a matter of fact, they weren't into that as far as Theo knew. They were into rough and quick fucks, anger and frustration sparking wherever skin met, Liam being tacitly unmerciful, fingers wound around Theo's neck, letting him gasp for breath, the way Theo quite liked, the way that made Theo bite his lower lip and whisper loud enough for only Liam to hear: _harder, fucker, choke, harder, choke harder_.

But tonight was going to be miles different if they were starting like this – like Theo was at the centre of Liam's world, and that Liam's gentle gestures and soft moans were wordlessly confessing things he’d never dare to admit before.

Theo rolled his hips again and arched his back, lowering himself so that he could gently devour the tender side of Liam's neck. And here Liam didn't respond the way he usually would – Theo expected him to struggle, perhaps fight for the reins.

Instead, Liam exposed his neck more, head curling back, hands sliding to Theo's hips like it were the most natural place for them to be.

 

 **ii.**  
Their clothes were all over the place. Liam had only taken his top off. He had busied himself unbuttoning Theo's white shirt like it were gossamer, so slowly it _hurt_. The fucking savage, Theo thought, but he couldn't bring himself to be properly angry. Only his boxers were left, though his pants were still around his ankles – and well, his glasses (Liam hadn't touched them) and the metallic wrist cuffs that nullified Theo's powers too. 

Theo was still in Liam's lap, though now Liam was sat up. They stayed like that for a while, making out languidly, eyes closed and just listening to the sound of their lips, the murmurs of shared air. And then, to Theo's surprise, Liam pulled back, and after a contemplative three seconds, motioned to take off Theo's glasses.

"Thought you liked them," Theo said, letting the other take them off. Liam examined its rim, tracing the wings of the glasses with a finger.

"I do, but the light's reflecting in them today. Can’t see your eyes."

Theo frowned. "Does that usually happen?"

Liam didn't honour him with a reply, just placed the glasses on a cardboard box next to the mattress and turned back to place a kiss at the corner of Theo's mouth.

"Can you see me though?" Liam asked, almost timidly.

"If we're close enough, sure…" Theo said, slyly, biting down on a smile.

Liam pulled Theo closer, his hand insisting on the small of Theo's back. Theo felt sheepish and chuckled. It was mildly embarrassing now that they were self-conscious of their closeness, the points where their skin met felt hotly ticklish, suddenly, of all sensations.

"Can't do much this close," Theo said, grinding his hips to give it a try, and though it made a jolt of electricity course through their bodies, it was also awkward. Liam just laughed against the other's chest and loosened his embrace.

"Get on your back, on the bed," Liam said casually. Theo contemplated it.

"Not going to throw me onto it?"

"You want me to?"

Theo opened his mouth and closed it. He liked being manhandled by Liam but wasn't sure he wanted to admit it out loud – it was supposed to be all by tacit agreement. Theo's hesitation made Liam's eyes turn dark, and Theo hoped it meant that the other got the general idea.

But instead, Liam picked Theo gently up and turned them around so Theo was on the bed, and it was such a soft and considerate manoeuver Theo wasn't entirely sure what to think about it. 

Liam then hovered above him, his body coming between Theo's legs. He pushed his clothed cock against Theo, a hand on Theo's knee stroking the outside and then the inside of his thigh. He lifted Theo's leg over his shoulder and started kissing it, slowly making his way down the leg, cheek pressed into the soft side of Theo's thigh. Theo couldn't help the quiet but not quiet enough moans that escaped him. Liam closed his eyes and chuckled, like he could taste the whines better that way. 

After an eternity of uncharacteristic fluff and the tethering of their drives, Theo sat up and kissed Liam with all the desperation he could communicate. "Li, you sap, our cocks aren't gonna come by themselves," he said around the kisses. He probably had better ways of wording what he meant, but screw eloquence.

Liam let out a surprised but also sensual laugh against Theo's mouth. "You never call me Li."

"I'll revert straight back to Dunbar or the generic insults reserved for pesky hero wannabes if you don't get on with it. Or you know, I could _end_ you if push comes to shove. I would definitely love some shoving. Right about now." 

Liam was laughing a little more wholeheartedly now and was burying his face into the nook of Theo's neck. It tickled. "Hmm. Bossy."

Theo sighed and grabbed for Liam's buttocks instead, pulling them down, and then grinding his hips upwards. He undid the other's zipper and played with the waistband of Liam's pants.

Liam pushed himself up on his hand, placed a kiss on Theo's cheek on the way, and then without much warning, pressed his crotch hard against Theo's impatient hands again, and again, almost nonchalantly. 

Theo was being rocked back lightly from the pushes. He tried to prop himself up, looked southward, and thought about licking and biting at Liam's chest. Thought about leaving markings and dents in the other's skin, mouthing the other's cock through his boxers. But Liam swatted Theo's hands and thoughts away and pushed him back down roughly, pinning him, finally with some of his usual roughness, eyes dusky and expression inscrutable. 

"Not… today," Liam said, sounding a little like he wasn't sure about what he was deciding. Theo frowned. Liam leaned down and gave Theo a peck on the mouth, and when Theo tried to reach out for more, Liam turned his mouth away so that Theo's lips landed on Liam’s cheek. Liam nosed his way down Theo's body and ignored Theo. 

It was insanely rude.

 

Theo huffed, exasperated, almost giving up. He threw his head back, looked at the ceiling and wondered. 

He didn't understand. They started these series of fucking not because they were, in any way, god forbid, _in love_ , but mostly because they wanted and needed to rub off the tension they kept building up between each other. They needed to scrub the surplus energy off their skin – it was really only that. And Liam was hot, especially when he was angry. 

It really wasn't much else. They had always valued speed and efficiency. Nothing complicated to it.

At this rate, he was going to think Liam was trying to communicate something else altogether. Like he was soul-searching across Theo’s body. Theo grimaced and quite involuntarily thought back on how it all started.

 

The first time was when Theo had been trying to turn the tables. He had been cornered (back against a dead end in an alleyway, rainwater dripping from his baseball cap, his shirt thoroughly soaked, his laughter coarser than usual because of the cold) and was trying to flirt, tease, go overboard, drive Liam up a wall as much as he could so he could, well, get away. Little did he know they'd ended up making out, eyes closed, minds focused on the interchange of lips, teeth, and tongue. Their canines scraped dangerously, and they could taste the undeniable lust in each other's mouths. And Theo didn't run away when he could have, when he had seen that Liam had let down his defences and created an escape route big enough for Theo to slip away. 

He didn’t want to.

The memory was vivid now: the drumming sound of rain in their ears, of distant cars in an almost distant city, of a squall that was roaring against a fire it couldn't put out. There was also the sound of quiet tears they didn't shed, because of the pain they were inflicting all over each other's body under the guise of coitus, when they were at the edge of coming in each other's fists. Edge of their desires.

 

 **iii.**  
Liam tenderly licked and kissed the mound in Theo's boxers and it was driving him insane, though he didn't show. He didn't dare show. Liam was deliberately slow – he was careful, as if the briefs were holy – or was it perhaps Theo who was holy? He couldn't tell. 

"Shit. Get going," he said between grit teeth. At this rate he swore he was going to cry. 

Liam shook his head, eyes twinkling, as he massaged Theo's dick with the heel of his palm before giving it another long lick. Theo trembled.

Finally, after what felt like the Earth had orbited around the sun half a dozen times, Liam slipped a finger under the briefs, played with the waistband, and then pulled so that the boxer slid off. Theo's cock bounced up.

Thankfully, Liam didn't delay any further. His fingers wrapped around Theo's prick, and he leaned down to lick the head, kiss the slit, sip at it lightly, like he would if he were wine-tasting. Theo watched, his eyes half-lidded, his breath coming a little short. He didn't think it would be kind of endearing, seeing Liam taking his time to savour his dick. He ran his fingers in Liam's messy chestnut hair affectionately.

Liam's hand started pumping Theo's cock, twisting with the flick of his wrist, and then he covered the head with his mouth and started sucking, his cheeks hollowing inwards, moving to meet the top of his hand. He would let go with a pop, spit to lubricate the process, and then repeat with as much fervour as ever. He used his tongue, swirled around the shaft while it was inside. He then slowly opened his mouth wider and took another inch in before coming back up. He glanced up at Theo, gauged Theo's expression and, without much warning, took the cock in his mouth again, this time a few inches deeper, his nose almost touching base.

Theo wasn't huge but he was certainly not small – and it wasn't that they'd never done this, but Theo could feel the blood rush to his face, more than usual. Especially when Liam looked up at him again, cocky though there was also, unless Theo was imagining it (his eyesight was slightly blurry after all), a hint of irrefutable affection.

"Fuck my mouth?" Liam offered tentatively. He tensed and relaxed his jaw, gave Theo's cock a questioning lick. Theo left the question unanswered, reached down and grabbed Liam by the chin and brought him up so he could kiss him instead.

Two could play at this game.

 

 **iv.**  
They were, after all, adversaries, by profession. Liam was a branded superhero, named The Wrath, and Theo was a high-class thief whom the agencies called _The Nameless_. Theo would go on about his business and Liam would make sure to be in the way, do what superheroes were supposed to do, except Theo would always slip from between Liam's fingers, electricity sparking behind him as he zipped across the room, out of the hero's reach.

It always angered Liam, when Theo escaped. But the thing was, Theo always did manage to escape. 

"But suppose you're letting me," Theo had once whispered into Liam's ear when Liam had been devouring his neck, his nails digging into the thin skin of Theo's skull, tuffs of hair coming out from between. They were in an emergency stairway, under the dim neon green lighting of the exit sign. 

Liam had tensed up, stopped all ministrations. He pulled back slowly. 

"What?" he said, perplexed. It was obvious Theo's train of thoughts were completely lost on him. And then, suddenly, as if struck by some realization that just dawned on him because he gave himself two seconds to _think_ , he pushed himself off Theo. 

He looked mildly disgusted with himself, looked at Theo like the guy was sin. He rubbed his palms together, visibly hit with some sort of anxiety that wasn't there before. 

"What?" Liam said again, swallowing hard, his gaze falling to the ground. Perhaps repeating the monosyllable question marker made his bafflement feel more real, Theo thought. It was a tad endearing. 

"Hypothetically," Theo started, "as much as I have full confidence in my abilities, and a full certainty of the lack thereof on your side, _you may_ be letting me have my way. And, by extension, letting me escape each and every time."

"That's fucked up," Liam retorted, and after a long pause, he didn’t look as confident anymore. "You're fucked up. This is fucked up—"

Liam turned his back to Theo and scratched the back of his neck nervously. 

"See, here,” Theo pointed out, “I could be running away. Or do you usually turn your backs on criminals? Or is this simply the entire ruse of the chasing game?"

Liam had turned back and looked like the foundation of his morality and ethics had crumbled like sand castles under high tide.

Theo looked away, leaned against the wall behind him, pensive and calculative. "It turns me on, corrupting you." 

And he was about to leave it at that, was about to execute his escape and slip away round the corner, climb up some fire-escape he had prepared in advance. But Liam grabbed him by the forearm before he could take two steps and pinned him into the old brick wall, _hard_. 

Pain flourished at the back of Theo's skull, and an agonizing numbness washed over his senses. He winced but managed to turn the wince into a triumphant smirk, just because he wouldn't want to show that he'd been, more or less, foiled. 

Though in many ways, this had always been a win-win for him.

Liam's fingers were around his throat, constricting slowly ( _deliciously_ ), and his gaze was hard and dangerous and _exhilarating_. Theo closed his eyes and tried to visualize the way his breath thinned, the way Liam's anger channelled through there, into the very core of his being.

 

 **v.**  
They hadn’t been able to stop. 

Addiction? Perhaps. Perhaps not entirely so. Theo couldn't put his finger on it. 

It was a game, so to speak. A little way to add some… normality to his otherwise increasingly boring high-profile criminal life. But what was normality amongst this all? 

 

He had started to slip the things he'd stolen back into Liam's pockets, especially while they were fucking because Liam was most distracted then. Theo would grab Liam from behind and while driving the hero deeper into him, he'd push whatever he stole into a pocket. 

Theo wasn't entirely sure why he did it. But on the other hand, the things he stole didn't mean much to begin with. He stole simply because he wanted to challenge security systems. For the thrill, truly. He'd long abandoned stealing for the money. He picked up stealing for the sake of stealing. Art for the sake of art. 

He thought it was kind of sweet that Liam never quite noticed, never noticed the exact moment when Theo would, well, _give back_. Hilariously, Liam's attention was completely spent on Theo. It was adorable in many aspects, Theo could almost coo.

And he liked it when Liam would discover the jewel in his possession, later, after the sex. Liam would look completely lost, and he would look at Theo like he was downright mad, like he were ten and just given a million dollars for his birthday. Or like he were twenty-five and given the moon, the sun and the stars. But then the expression would turn into a pissed one too because clearly there was a jab at Liam's lack of competence. Theo liked that expression too. 

Theo would smile cheekily, smugly, and then step into the darkness and disappear, blend into the shadows and find his way back to his truck. Drive to the outskirts of town and find an unassuming spot to gaze up at the night sky and ponder over why he was subverting his own values in order to see the spectrum of Liam's expressions..

 

Looking back, Theo wondered if he had not had this _seed_ planted in him a long time ago. But when had this curiosity even started? Why did he bother to entertain it at all? 

And maybe if intimacy was the one thing they've never quite done before, then so be it. Theo would love to have a little taste of Liam's form of affection, while Theo could still get away with it. 

Maybe stealing lavish jewellery or debris of so-called culture had turned sourly boring for him, and he was looking to steal something a little less tangible. It had, after all, a certain glow that was undeniably alluring. 

 

 **vi.**  
Theo didn't fuck Liam's mouth. Instead he pulled Liam up and in, whispered around kisses, something to the effect of, _no can do, babe (a kiss), what we're going to do (kiss) is have you (kiss)_ fuck _me (kiss) hard and deep (kiss) rub against my sweet spot and milk me (kiss) fucking multiple times_.

Liam was trembling. He had closed his eyes. Theo kissed his eyelid, more playful than anything else. But then Liam kissed him firmly on the lips, and Theo could have sworn he tasted hints of tear water.

And that confused him so much he held onto Liam's cheeks, and frowning he asked, through more quiet kisses: 

_Hey, what's wrong?_

 

 **vii.**  
There was one time when Theo had cooperated with another thief to steal an artefact that had sentimental value to this thief. Theo usually didn't team up, but the thief was offering a sizeable amount of money for his help, and honestly, he could make a friend or two, pile up some IOUs. The item was fairly easy to get – it was some sort of vintage swan statuette, a decorative trinket displayed in a museum with other similar objects donated by some rich guy who'd gotten them from a great-aunt who claimed they were objects from the civil war. The security was subpar because no one could really imagine anyone trying to steal what could easily be classified as insignificant and worthless junk.

The job hadn't meant anything to Theo. But somehow he had remembered that day with more detail than usual.

Because Liam had looked so much more furious than usual.

Theo was running behind his partner – he had let the guy run in front of him because he knew that if anyone should be caught by Liam, it should be him. He could easily distract Liam. His partner would have a better chance of escaping that way.

But he had been wrong – he had miscalculated and didn't account for Liam's, well, wrath. Which he should have, considering Liam's alter ego was named after it. 

Theo purposefully tripped over something so he could lag behind and tempt Liam to stop chasing after his partner and catch him instead. But Liam had just pushed him out of the way and continued to pursue the other thief, and Theo had never seen him this determined and single-minded.

It was as if Liam was saying, _how dare you team up with someone for a heist? Who is he?_ Liam had looked at Theo as if Theo wasn't to interact with anyone else. 

When Liam caught the thief, eyes yellow with fury, he dug his claws into the back of the guy's skull and promptly started crushing it into the ground. Over and over. Until the face was beyond recognition, until the asphalt cracked audibly, until blood, mahogany and thick, started pooling. 

And Theo had to shout, top of his lungs, though he was heaving from all the running, barely able to catch his breath. He was, if he could admit it, a little terrified. 

_Stop, fuck, this isn't you, stop, fuck, Wrath, stop, stop, STO—_

 

 **viii.**  
"Don't stop," Theo begged against Liam's lips when Liam paused, looking hesitant. "Hey, we can do it your way."

Though Theo didn't really feel like fucking Liam's mouth anymore. It was hot but didn't suit the moment. Theo wasn't even feeling so hot anymore – he was going through a strange timeout and he was almost certain Liam was going through something similar. 

Theo did want to know what was going on. He had guesses – but it was hard for him to link them to this very moment. None of them made much sense anyway – he was really groping in the dark at this point.

"D'you wanna talk?" he said. 

Liam squeezed his eyes shut, exhaled long and slow. "Fuck," he shook his head. "No. I'd… much rather fuck you, or you fuck me, o-or—"

Liam clearly looked troubled, Theo rubbed circles into the other's shoulder unconsciously for a few seconds. He stopped when he realised he was doing it, looked away sheepishly. His cock was getting a little cold so he busied his hands tucking himself in. It was awkward for a good two minutes. 

Liam offered a blanket sheet to cover up. It was a little chilly, especially with the heat of the moment lost and the cool of the night truly settling in.

"You better have a good explanation," Theo murmured without much bite. "Speak your mind for god's sake, pup," he added when Liam spent a good minute not speaking it.

"Don't call me that," Liam winced.

Theo rolled his eyes. "Bee in your bonnet, your highness? Care to enlighten your plebeian company here?"

Liam exhaled, barely appreciated the sarcasm, took a moment for himself before he reached out for Theo's hand, and leaned in to kiss Theo's mouth, hesitant, but more evidently, nervous. 

Time halted, the world stopped, and Theo held his breath.

 

 **ix.**  
It did cross his mind. One of Theo's guesses as to Liam's strange tenderness was that it all had something to do with what happened about a week or two ago. 

In many ways it would make a lot of sense, but in many others, it didn't, and Theo would much rather not think too deeply into it.

 

The Nameless and The Wrath had been playing a game of chase (like they always did) on the slanted rooftop of a twin-towered museum. Helicopters surrounded them, invasive searchlights trying to pinpoint the ever-evasive thief. And the Nameless was going to succeed – he had prepared his escape after all, everything was going according to plan, as far as he knew. 

Except, of course, by thinking so, he'd jinxed it. 

 

In the quiet chaos of the wild hunt, Liam had slipped. Backwards. He'd completely lost his balance. And without thinking, Theo had turned around in time and reached out, a shout escaping his lips. _Liam_.

 

There was this moment where their fingers brushed, like a spark connecting, and everything around them slowed down. Theo had felt buoyant. It was sort of like floating underwater, and Liam had looked back confused, probably unaware that he was falling. In the next moment, their hands found each other and Theo pulled as hard as he could, with the weight of his body, shifted momentum. Time warped back like a twister and everything flashed by so fast neither of them could catch up with what just happened, with what was happening.

 

 **x.**  
"Don't want to talk about it."

Theo sighed, getting to his feet, off the mattress, gathering his clothes. "Well, fine, I suppose I'll be plenty satisfied with my right hand tonight."

Liam grabbed Theo's wrist, right under the cuff, expression conflicted, and gently pleaded, "hey, don't. Please."

 

Theo didn't know he could be so easily persuaded. He sighed, rubbed the back of his neck, looked out the window, and then plopped down on the mattress again.

It only took Liam three syllables. 

Perhaps it was the conflict that reflected in Liam's teal eyes too, Theo couldn't say for sure. Maybe it was the way the moonlight made everything so much more dreamlike. Not dreamy – but truly dreamlike, like it were all unreal, invitingly unreal. It promised that whatever Theo did now would be gone by the time he woke up in the morning, lost dreams never to be regained ever again even if he tried hard to remember.

They were kissing again. Warmth sneaked back, caressing their skin, the back of their necks. Theo pinned Liam on the bed and climbed over him and he kissed him, rough and mildly desperate. He wouldn't admit it aloud, probably wouldn't admit to himself in other circumstances, but he wanted to tell Liam that he would be, _was_ his undoing. 

Theo licked his own fingers, and Liam watched intently. He didn't wait until his fingers were coated enough before reaching behind him and finding his entrance. No point waiting for Liam to do the honours. No point overdoing it because he liked it rough.

"Impatience's a vice. But it looks good on you. At times. This time, all the time," Liam whispered, breathing a little hard, blue gaze magma hot. Theo licked a slow stripe up his middle finger before reaching back again, inserting two fingers now, feeling a little playful. He arched his back, leaning forward, and Liam kissed Theo's solar plexus. Theo shuddered. 

Liam's hands then snaked behind and kneaded Theo's ass cheeks, groping and spreading and massaging. Then his fingers joined Theo's; one slipped in alongside Theo, and he crooked his finger. It rubbed minutely against Theo's good spot, where his own fingers couldn't reach because of the angle he was fingering himself at. Theo had to stifle an embarrassing and loud groan. He tensed, and stilled his fingers, breathed deeply. After a few seconds, he moaned low, relaxed his muscles, and pushed deeper. There wasn't nearly enough slick, but the burn was out of this world.

Liam pulled his fingers out to Theo's dismay (Theo had hoped and expected Liam to insert another finger, really) but Liam fumbled with his pants and boxers, and was flailing a bit, looking for the bottle of lube that was around the other side of the mattress, it seemed. It was all good. Theo laughed silently. 

He backed off a little and leaned down and let his spit fall onto Liam's dick, which was looking so heavy it couldn't stand straight. And then he took the head in his mouth and sucked, flicked his tongue at the slit, swallowed the precome, before pulling back and lapping it under the head, following the curvature back to the slit. Liam groaned, abandoning his quest of finding the lube, his hips jutting forward, his fingers finding Theo's hair. 

Theo licked his lips, took the head of Liam's length again, and this time, relaxing his jaw, he slid down, achingly slowly, and when he could feel the cock a little further than the top of his throat, a little past where his gag reflex would have triggered, he came back up and gasped shortly, carefully watching Liam. Then he dived back, again and again.

"S-stop. I-I'll... if, I—" Theo circled the base of Liam's dick, squeezed tight, looked up at Liam, daring him. Liam looked like he wanted to punch Theo for being so infuriating. 

Theo took the tube from Liam's side and started coating his fingers, and then Liam's cock with it. It was really icy against their hot skins, but Theo wasn't patient enough to warm it up. He added more until they were disgustingly _dripping_ with it. He didn't mind it too much, and he knew Liam was eyeing the lube that was streaming thickly down the inside of his thigh, absent-minded and almost strangely _wistful_. 

"Beautiful," Liam managed to say before Theo hovered and aligned his entrance with Liam's cock. When they were aligned, head teasing at his hole, Theo looked back up at Liam and found Liam watching him back intently, eyes solemn and still. Liam's hands climbed up to rest at Theo's hips. There was no pressure or anger coming from them, and Theo couldn't decide whether he liked that or not. 

It was, again, for the millionth time tonight, different.

"Ready?" Theo asked, smiling. 

But before Liam could even say what Theo assumed was _fucking yes_ he sank down, his hole stretching and engulfing the head of Liam's cock, and then the rest. He was never one to take it too slow. He liked the burn, the rush of adrenaline, the feeling of ripping the bandaid in one go. He let out a groan from the back of his throat.

When Liam’s length was sheathed, Theo leaned backwards, propped on his hands, adjusted his posture so that his knees were on either side of Liam, hoping that the angle would make him hit or rub past his prostate better.

Liam had similar plans, but he flipped them over instead. He hovered on top, pulled Theo's legs apart, gently, as if asking for permission, left a trail of kisses down his leg, caressed the outside of his thigh, before angling himself so that he was, indeed, better adjusted to get Theo's sweet spot. His gaze came back up and locked onto Theo.

"Want me?" he asked, an almost sincere murmur.

Theo hesitated a second before nodding. Liam lifted Theo's hand and kissed the knuckles. He then motioned for Theo to rest his arm around Liam's neck. Theo complied, wrapped his other arm over too.

They'd never done this before. Never even had anything close to missionary style, let alone this whole embrace thing. No shy feeling up of the smooth expanse of skin on Liam's back. No timid hands that kept asking at every touch, _can I? do you want it? Do you want—_

_—me?_

_How badly?_

Liam sank in and Theo closed his eyes. 

 

For a moment, he felt like he was submerged into murky waters. And at a distance, he could hear the lonesome strumming of a guitar, and when he emerged from the dense environment, the world tipped upside down, and he felt like he was spiralling, falling.

 

 **xi.**  
He was thrown back at the moment where his and Liam's hand had connected and Theo had pulled. The sounds of helicopter choppers replaced the strumming of the guitar – the air was filled with either adrenaline or brine, he couldn't be sure. 

At that moment he felt his centre of gravity dislodge, and his vision shift, like a train derailing and starting to tilt, slow motion. Liam tumbled back onto the roof tiles, grip back on the metallic framing. And Theo—

And now Theo was the one falling off the roof.

And Liam's eyes had dilated, impossibly wide, wide with unreserved fear. 

 

Theo's name came out for the first time in public, into the cool early autumn night air.

And all Theo could do was smile, briefly, in that ephemeral moment where he could still see Liam, dirt and bruises across his face, and not just the expanse of nocturnal sky above them.

Cause if he had to be out-ed by someone, he'd much rather it be by Liam.

 

 **xii.**  
"You like that?" Liam asked. It didn't sound as dirty as it should, considering the circumstances. His eyelashes were pointed downwards, sweat shining off his forehead, skin flushed and breath coming short. 

Theo whimpered. This position – one they should have explored way earlier – was a perfect one for hitting his prostate. It didn't hit directly – Theo didn't really like it that much when hit directly anyways because it would be a little _too_ much for his taste – but Liam's dick rubbed with just the right amount of friction and pressure, at this angle. And it was overwhelming; Theo was reduced to embarrassing moans and cusses, and hands running up and down Liam's back, finding a place to hold onto. Theo was almost unable to properly grip himself to reality. The back of his eyelids flashed white, grey, black, and white again. His whole body was feeling prickly and hot and where his own hands would not have been soothing, Liam's touch, the few moments their skins connected, intentionally or accidentally, were wholly appeasing and comforting. 

"You like it? Like this?" Liam asked again. He held his breath, the highs of his cheeks tense, and he quickened the rhythm and Theo couldn't help but whimper at every single thrust, because Liam's cock was drilling and filling him so good and banging and passing his prostate almost every single time. "Like it when I give it to you hard and right? Like how my cock fills you up? Tell me."

"Yes—" Theo decided to answer. "You're so good. Fucking hot—Aah—"

"Am I?" 

"Yes. Yes. Fuck yes. Fucker," Theo breathed, eye squeezed shut, his arms rounding Liam's neck again and just clinging tightly as he focused on not coming too soon. It was proving to be wildly difficult. His breath was shortening, his body was quivering uncontrollably then and now, his thoughts were muddled and the heels of his feet were digging into Liam's back because of the way his legs hugged the other tighter and tighter.

Liam slowed down, and then, as if bracing for the last stretch, sped up.

"Fucking shit!" Theo shouted. His nails dug into Liam's nape and grabbed a tuff of hair and pulled hard. He started panting, and Liam kissed him all over. Forehead, nose, cheek, mouth, mouth again. He revered his lips and mouth corners and jawline and neck, and Theo arched his neck, groaned. The second groan was stifled by the nth kiss and Theo turned his head away. Liam ghosted his fingers over Theo's nipple, dusted his abs, drew the contour of Theo's Adonis belt, careful not to go anywhere close to Theo's weeping erection.

"Fuck, fuck, hah, fuck," Theo hissed, and Liam shushed him tenderly. His hands came up to sweep a few curls of Theo's hair on his forehead, and then kissed him, gentle and slow, while he sped up the pace again.

"Go on. Come for me, baby."

"Li—hah, shit, fuck. _Fuck._ "

Theo shook violently one last time before he started coming. 

 

 **xiii.**  
Theo watched Liam bite his bottom lip. He looked a little lost – like he was just hit with the fact that he was able to make Theo come undone with nothing more than too much tenderness. He pulled out of Theo slowly, watching Theo, making sure he was okay. Theo winced a little, his muscles felt sore, and he felt empty and open, but he nodded in reassurance. Liam looked like he didn't dare to touch him at first, but Theo grabbed Liam’s hand and placed it on his own hip. Liam soothed the hipbone he found there, and Theo trembled a tad, sighed into the warm touch. 

When he was more relaxed and less sensitive, Theo used his other hand to pump Liam's cock. He looked up at Liam, gestured with his eyes for Liam to look at the way his come was spread on his abdomen and chest, thick and white, and then he looked back up at Liam.

Theo allowed a satisfied and fond expression light up his face. Must be the warm afterglow, he thought, that made him lax and sleepily sly as he worked up Liam's cock. It didn't take too long before Liam reached completion, his seed landing on Theo's thighs and crotch, a low groan slipping from his mouth. Theo smiled, almost crooned when he came up to kiss Liam, languid and slow. 

"That was something," Theo said hoarsely against Liam's lips. He grimaced at his own voice and coughed into his fist to clear his throat. He wasn't usually that vocal during sex, and the thought made him feel slightly mortified.

Liam smiled very briefly. He was still trying to even his breath – but his eyes showed some sort of timidity that Theo had never seen before. This was not the first time they'd come all over each other, and not the first time they'd have sex, but it did feel like a first time. 

Liam grabbed a sheet and covered Theo, then grabbed a few tissues and started to clean him up. "Towels ‘re too far away. I'm lazy," he explained quickly even though he really didn’t need to explain. "You can use the shower."

"'s fine," Theo murmured. He didn’t bother getting up. His knees and thighs were still a little weak.

"I—" Liam stopped himself and then took one of Theo's wrists and examined the cuff around it. Theo let him, for a while, unsure what else to do or talk about. 

Unexpectedly, after perhaps a good five minutes, Liam lifted his wrist to his lips and kissed the metallic cuff.

 

 **xiv.**  
Theo undid his left cuff and concentrated, air screeching in his ears as he plummeted headfirst towards the ground.

He closed his eyes, and the first thing that came to his mind was the look on Liam's face. He had to shake it off – the sight was dangerously entrancing, and he didn't have the time to be entranced.

He'd never done this before – it was a very improvised escape plan B. He was planning to, both hopefully and theoretically, turn himself completely into electricity, nullify the force by nullifying his weight. But there was high chance it wouldn't work – mostly because he didn't even know if his power could work that way. He’d never tried before.

He had gotten this specific power artificially and never dared to use it much because he never felt like it was a part of him, at all. In fact, it simply wasn't. The same went for his other power – on his right hand. 

But now his life depended on it, depended on whether he could make it listen to him, make it a part of him.

Not that his life was worth all that much, but he didn't want to give up all that fast either. It wasn't in his nature to give up easily.

Especially when the last thing he got to see was Liam Dunbar's terrified face. There was no way he was dying with that as his last memory.

 

 **xv.**  
"Your power saved your life that night," Liam said, fingers lingering on the cuff.

Theo sighed and shrugged. "I suppose." He looked away. "What's it to you?"

Liam glanced at him, a little pained. "Wh— why have you never used it before?"

Theo didn't answer. 

"And this hand?" Liam picked the other hand up, but Theo retracted it from the other's grip in a knee-jerk reaction. It was his venomous hand, and he didn't want to risk paralyzing Liam if Liam had decided to take the cuff off.

"Not something you need to know."

Liam bit his lower lip, contemplated over something, exhaled long and steady. He lowered his gaze and looked at the calluses of his own hands, "I wish we could drop the enmity sometimes." 

"Technically we do. We wouldn't be fucking otherwise."

Liam shook his head. "No— yes. But that's the thing – there's enmity in our fucking, and then it's well, _just_ fucking."

Theo frowned.

"I'm not going to pretend to be articulate, honestly. But well, I don't really… want that anymore. Just fucking, that is. I don't want us... to be just about fucking."

Theo scratched the back of his neck. He felt something creep up his spine, and it wasn't the cold. He didn't dare blink.

"I mean— I don't want _just_ that. I don't know how else to put it. It’s good - but it’s…not the whole package deal, and I want the… whole package deal."

"I don't quite follow," Theo feigned, trying half-heartedly to think of a way to get out of this conversation.

Liam sighed. "Please." Theo put his head in his hands. And before he could say anything, Liam added, " _Theo_."

 

Theo never quite liked anyone calling him by his name. Most times he felt like he was not _Theo_. He wasn't whole, and the most important part of him – his heart – was not even his, not even him. He was a monster with parts of too many things – he was venomous, electric, wolfish, inhuman.

Bad memories and nightmares flashed in his mind. Pseudo-scientists wearing grungy gas masks, bronze leather blackened with time. Bright lights and the sound of metal on metal, and constant clicking and blood dripping and the drumming of pain against his temples, the only part of his body he could feel, back then. 

 

 **xvi.**  
Why had Theo let Liam know his name though? The answer was simple – really, but it wasn't easy to admit, even if it were only to admit it to himself.

He usually produced another name to cover up his identity. It was easier that way. He'd been a Cody for a long time, and he'd been an Asher, a Mike too. He was a con artist: he could be anyone, everyone, no one.

But about a few weeks ago, when he found out about Liam's name and civilian identity, and had Liam pushed up against a brick wall, needy and legs apart under Theo while Theo fucked him from behind, Liam had said, trembling, _I won't tell, I swear. I won't. But I'd like – just to— s-say it. J-just say it when you fuck me. It would be fairer, wouldn't it?_

And Theo had bent over and whispered harshly into his ear, _Liam Dunbar, a fucking slut. You'd use sex to extort information? Heroic example._

_No, n-no. Just between us…_

Theo fucked him over harder, mercilessly, didn't bother pulling back, just buried his nose into the other's street clothes.

And when he was about to come, he murmured into Liam's ear, not much louder than silence itself, hoping that the other wouldn’t hear, "Theo. Call me… Theo."

And Liam did.

 

 **xvii.**  
It was the only time Theo allowed it. Liam didn't seem too adventurous to reuse it either after that – besides, they were only into angry sex and any pet names used were slut or whore or anything in between. 

Perhaps it was because Liam was, that day – just Liam. Theo had caught him off-duty, excited to share that he knew The Wrath's secret identity. And Liam had just been walking down the street, minding his own Liam-shaped business, for once.

The real possibility that that was the reason why Liam had asked for his name, like people usually would when met under normal circumstances, dawned on Theo even more as he continued to contemplate it. It made more and more sense that it was the actual reason.

Liam had just been Liam that day, and Theo, well, wanted to be Theo. 

Simply Theo.

 

 **xviii.**  
"I quit, you know," Liam said, almost too breezily.

"You quit?" Theo snapped out of his thoughts. He was caught off guard and had tensed up instantly.

"Signed the last of papers today."

"Wh— what?" Theo started. "Why would you do that?"

Liam sighed. "I'm tired of all this. And I told you: I want to drop this enmity."

"You quit being a superhero because you want to drop the enmity between justice and criminals?"

"Between me and you, specifically…"

Theo frowned deeply. "Wait, did you… Were you… hoping that I would quit too?"

Liam nodded. "No – well. I don't know. I mean— yes. I would love it if you weren't a highly sought for criminal, but—"

"I would never turn myself in, Liam."

"But would you turn, um, a new… leaf?"

Theo cringed at the idiom. "No?"

"I—"

"You of all people should know – redemption isn't as easy as turning a fucking leaf."

"I—"

"I don't care what your morals are. If you want to call it quits – and I mean this thing between you and me, I'm fine with it. Just don't think that I'll elope with you and turn into a saint or something," Theo paused, unsure why he was getting this worked up. "Wow. Ridiculous."

"But—"

"Just because we've had some good times or that you made me come the hardest I've ever come just now doesn't mean I'm signing up to the fluff side, Liam."

" _Theo_."

Theo froze. His heart skipped a beat and he hated it for that. 

"Theo, I think you already have."

Theo exhaled. "Already what?"

"You're… you've changed and you don't know it, but you have."

"I don't— I— no I didn't," Theo practically stuttered, but his expression quickly turned into disgust. "What? Ew, no."

Liam deadpanned and then glared at Theo for a few seconds. "I think my stupidity rubbed off on you."

"You're admitting being stupid. That's—"

Liam smiled cheekily. "Apocalyptic?"

"Yes?" Theo affirmed, but he was still conflicted and confused with what he was trying to say. "But also, no, because I don't have a speck of stupidity on me, even after all the fucking. That’s not how it’s transmitted."

Liam narrowed his eyes. "Alright. Whatever you say. But I still think you've changed, and your creative denials won't change that fact. Nor the fact that you just admitted that, quote, I made you come the hardest you've ever come just now, unquote."

"I refuse to comment any further on this subject," Theo said.

Liam laughed, rather wholeheartedly. Theo looked away, out the window. He found that the view – though mediocre, was still quite soothing. And it made him think – think about the fact that Liam might be half-right. Though truly only about half.

He flinched slightly when he felt a touch on his hand, and he looked back at Liam, who was gesturing to take his hand. Theo intertwined their fingers without much thought, and Liam smiled fondly, just a little curve of the mouth corner.

They sat there in comfortable silence. It was calming despite Theo's internal turmoil over the conversation. But his thoughts steadily turned distant, white noise fizzing out.

After a while, Liam pulled Theo to him, like gravity, or its reverse. Kissed him on the temple, breathed him in like he were his personal brand of oxygen, murmured a few hushed secrets into Theo's ear, and Theo just let him, despite it all, and they lay back on the bed, and the moonlight that they had their backs against, fell on them, washed them an evanescent white.

Lulled them to dreamless sleep.

 

And for the first time in his life, for some inexplicable reason, Theo felt whole. 

Theo felt like himself.

**Author's Note:**

> you reached the end! thanks for sticking it out!


End file.
